Gothic Era
The Gothic Era is a period in the Middle Ages of the Historical Era of Earth. Stretching from 1000-1300 CE, it followed the Dark Ages and preceded the Renaissance. Individuals Africa * Sundiata (1217-1255), founder of the Mali Empire * Maimonides (1135-1204), Jewish philosopher * Prester John (c. 1100-1180) Asia * Avicenna (980-1037), Persian polymath: physician, philosopher, scientist, astronomer, chemist, geologist, logician, mathematician, physicist, poet, psychologist, Sheikh, soldier, statesman and Islamic theologian * Omar Khayyam (1048-1131), Persian poet, mathematician, philosopher and astronomer * Genghis Khan (1162-1227), Great Khan of the Mongol Empire * Kublai Khan (1215-1294), Khan ruler, founder of Yuan Dynasty in China * Hassan-i Sabah (1050-1124), Assassin * Saladin (1139-1193), sultan of Egypt and Syria Britain * Anselm (1033-1109), Saint, Abbot of Bec and Archbishop of Canterbury * Canute the Great (995-1035), ruler of England, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden * Duncan (1001-1040), King of Scotland * Edward the Confessor (1003-66), King of England * Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204) * Ethelred the Unready (968-1016), king of England * Lady Godiva (1040-80), Countess of Mercia * Ivanhoe, Knight * John of England (1166-1216), king and Duke of Normandy * Macbeth (1005-57), ruler of Scotland * Lady Macbeth * Malcolm (1031-1093), King of Scotland * William the Conqueror (1028-1087), ruler of Normandy and England * Richard Lionheart (1157-1199), king and Duke of Normandy * Robin Hood and his Merry Men * Roger Bacon (1219-1292), Franciscan friar, philosopher, and scientist * Thomas Becket (1119-1170), Saint, Archbishop of Canterbury and Chancellor of England * William Wallace (1270-1305), Scottish national leader France * Peter Abelard (1079-1142), French philosopher and logician * Saint Bernard (1090–1153), Saint, Abbot of Clairvaux, preacher and reformer * Honorius II (1060-1130), Antipope * Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204), queen consort of France and later of the Kingdom of England * Saint Louis IX of France (1214-1270), St. Louis, French king and crusader * Peter the Hermit (d. 1115), Crusader Germany * Albertus Magnus (1193-1280), German philosopher and theologian * Frederick Barbarossa (1122-1190), Holy Roman Emperor Ireland * Brian Boru (941-1014), High king of Ireland * Richard Strongbow (1130-76), Conqueror Italy * Anthony of Padua (1195-1231), Portuguese Franciscan friar, bishop * Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Neapolitan Catholic friar and theologian * Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), Saint, founder of the Order of Friars Minor * Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), Florentine writer and poet * Marco Polo (1254-1324), Venetian trader and explorer * Bonaventure (1221-1274), Franciscan theologian, bishop, and cardinal Scandinavia * Canute the Great (995-1035) * Leif Eriksson (970-1020), first European explorer to land in North America * Saint Olaf (995-1030), King of Norway * Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241), historian and saga-writer Spain * El Cid (1049-99), Castilian nobleman * Averroes Ibn Rushd (1126-1198), Spanish Islamic polymath * Dominic Guzman (1170-1221), Spanish Catholic friar and founder of the Order of Preachers * Maimonides (1135-1204) Russia * Alexander Nevsky (1221-1263), Grand Prince of Novgorod and Vladimir Timeline 1000 Apocalypse averted. 1002 Leif Ericson (970-1020) discovers Vinland. 1002 Brian Boru (941-1014) becomes High King of Ireland. 1017 Canute the Great (995-1035) becomes King of England, unsuccessfully commands waves to stop. 1020 Habsburg Castle is built in Switzerland, seat of the House of Habsburg that will come to control much of Europe. 1025 Avicenna (980-1037) completes his 14-volume Canons of Medicine--Hamadan, Persia. 1040 Macbeth (1005-57) kills King Duncan (b. 1001) and becomes King of Scotland. 1042: Edward the Confessor (1003-66) becomes King of England. 1054 The Great Schism permanently separates the Eastern and Western churches. 1054 July 4: The light from the supernova whose explosion formed the Crab Nebula reaches Earth, where it is observed by Chinese astronomers. 1057 Lady Godiva (1040-80) rides naked through the town of Coventry to convince her husband to repeal onerous taxation. No one watches except for the original Peeping Tom. 1057 King Macbeth killed by Malcolm (d. 1093). 1066 October 16: William the Conqueror defeats the English forces at the Battle of Hastings to achieve the Norman Conquest. 1068 The poet Omar Khayyam (1048-1131) begins his scholarly career--Samarkand. 1076 Saint Anselm proves the existence of God--Normandy. 1077 The Bayeux Tapestry embroiders the history of the Norman Conquest. 1078 Tower of London built by William. 1086 The Domesday Book, a survey of taxable property in England and Wales, is completed. It takes its name from the fact that, like the Last Judgment, its reckonings are not appealable. 1086 Magnetic compass first used for navigation--China. 1088 The University of Bologna, the longest existing university in the world, is founded. 1090 Hassan-i Sabah (1050-1124) captures the fortress of Alamut, and founds the Order of Assassins there. 1094 El Cid (1044-99) conquers Valencia. 1096 Peter the Hermit (d. 1115) launches the First Crusade, which lasts until 1099. 1096 Founding of the University of Oxford. 1099 Founding of Priory of Zion. 1099 Establishment of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. 1100 Founding of Knights of Malta 1100 Establishment of Great Zimbabwe 1102 The first troubadours appear, singing songs inspired by the Crusades--Aquitaine. 1113 The Khmer Empire begins the construction of Angkor Wat. 1118 Founding of Knights Templar at Jerusalem by Hughes de Payns. 1118 Peter Abelard (1079-1142) becomes the teacher of Heloise (1101-62)--and soon becomes her lover. 1137 April 9: Eleanor (1112-1204) becomes Duchess of Aquitaine; August 1: Having married King Louis VII (1120-80), Eleanor of Aquitaine becomes Queen of France. 1139 July 25: The Kingdom of Portugal declares its independence. 1143 The Cathar heresy first emerges in Cologne, Germany. 1145 Eleanor gives birth to her only child with Louis--a daughter who will grow up to be the poet Marie de France. 1145 The Second Crusade is launched, led by King Louis VII of France. 1147 Lisbon liberated from the Moors by Crusaders en route to the Holy Land. 1149 The Second Crusade ends, unsuccessful in its aim of shoring up the Crusader Kingdoms. 1152 May 18: After her marriage to Louis is annulled, Eleanor of Aquitaine marries Prince Henry of England (1154-89). 1154 October 25: Her husband now Henry II, King of England, Eleanor becomes Queen of England. 1157 September 8: Richard the Lionheart born to King Henry and Queen Eleanor. 1160 The philosopher Averroes (1126-98) is appointed Qadi of Seville. 1162 Thomas Becket (1118-70) becomes Archbishop of Canterbury. 1163 Rashid ad-Din Sinan (1132-92), a leader of the Order of the Assassins, establishes a stronghold at Masyaf in Syria, where he becomes known as The Old Man of the Mountain. 1163 Construction begins of Notre Dame de Paris. 1165 Prester John writes to the Byzantine Emperor, revealing the existence of a vast kingdom of Nestorian Christians in Central Asia. 1166 December 24: Prince John born to King Henry and Queen Eleanor. 1168 Maimonides (1135-1204) completes his commentary on the Talmud--Fez, Morocco. 1169 Richard Strongbow (1130-76) begins the Norman invasion of Ireland. 1170 The troubadour Chrétien de Troyes begins composing his Arthurian romances--Champagne. December 29: Four knights assassinate Archbishop Thomas Becket, thereby ridding King Henry II of that meddlesome priest--Canterbury. 1173 Tower of Pisa built; it’s leaning by 1178. 1175 Saladin strikes an alliance with Rashid ad-Din Sinan, the Old Man of the Mountain, after Rashid’s assassins twice almost kill the Sultan. 1187 Saladin (1137-1193) recaptures Jerusalem. 1189-92 Third Crusade 1189 Richard the Lionheart becomes King of England. 1190 Hassan i-Sabbah (1150-1124) captures the fortress Alamut in Persia and founds the Hashishin--the Order of Assassins. 1190 Richard the Lionheart (1157-1199) embarks on the 3rd Crusade, leaving Prince John as regent. Around this time Robert of Locksley (1160-1247) turns outlaw and becomes Robin Hood, gathering around him a band of Merry Men in Sherwood Forest--Little John, Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet, Alan a Dale and the rest. Robin, perhaps the greatest archer in British history, struggles against the wicked Sheriff of Nottingham, wins the heart of Maid Marian and, of course, steals from the rich to give to the poor. 1190 Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa (b. 1122) reportedly dies while engaged in the 3rd Crusade, though he actually sleeps beneath the Kyffhäuser mountain in Thuringia. 1191 September 7: The armies of Saladin and Richard the Lionhearted battle for Jerusalem--Arsuf. 1191 Zen Buddhism and green tea brought to Japan from China. 1192 June: Ending the Third Crusade, Saladin and Richard sign a treaty that keeps Jerusalem in Muslim hands, but allows access for Christian pilgrims--Ramla. 1192 Richard the Lionheart held captive. 1194 Ivanhoe rescues the Jewish healer Rebecca from being burned at the stake as a witch, and marries the fair Saxon Rowena. King Richard returns from his captivity. 1193 Construction of the cathedral at Chartres begins; it will last until 1250. 1199 On the death of Richard, his brother John becomes King of England. 1200 Construction of the Grand Village of the Natchez. 1204 The Fourth Crusade decides to skip the Holy Land and sacks Orthodox Christian Byzantium instead. 1206 Genghis Khan (1162-1227), a descendant of Prester John, unites the Mongol tribes and begins his conquest of most of the world. 1209 The Pope orders the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathar heresy, which has become the predominant faith of the South of France. 1209 Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) founds the Franciscan brotherhood. 1212 Thousands of young people join the Children’s Crusade, led by a Rhineland shepherd who promises to lead them to the Holy Land, where their example will convert the Moors to Christianity. In August they arrive at Genoa, where merchants who promise to take them to their destination instead sell them into slavery in Tunisia. 1215 Genghis Khan conquers Peking. 1215 King John signs the Magna Carta--Runnymede. 1216: Saint Dominic establishes the Dominican Order--Rome. 1220 Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241) writes the Younger Edda--Iceland. 1224 Abandonment of the city of Chichen Itza. 1226 Saint Louis (1214-70) becomes King of France 1228 Wandering Jew is sighted in Armenia, 1229 The Inquisition is established to stamp out the remnants of the Cathar heresy--Toulouse. 1235 Sundiata founds the Mali Empire. 1242 April 5: Prince Alexander Nevsky of Novgorod defeats the Teutonic Knights in the Battle on the Ice--Livonia. 1244 March 16: The Cathar stronghold of Montsegur surrenders and more than 200 defenders are burnt for their refusal to renounce their beliefs. 1244 Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) begins studying with Albertus Magnus (1200-1280), philosopher and alchemist. 1245 King Henry III begins the building of Westminster Abbey. 1250 Islanders on Rapa-Nui begin carving the enormous stone heads. 1260 Emperor Kublai Khan of China (1215-1294), grandson of Genghis Khan, builds Xanadu 1261 Tannhauser emerges from the Venusburg 1265 Thomas Aquinas begins Summa Theologiae. 1266 Marco Polo travels the Silk Road to Cathay to meet Kublai Khan. 1267 Roger Bacon (1214-94) sends the Pope his Majus Opus. 1274 Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) sees the love of his life, Beatrice (1266-90), for the first time; he’s nine years old and she’s eight. 1282 Dante and Beatrice meet for the second and last time on Earth. 1284 Pied Piper rids the town of Hamlin, Germany, of rats and children. 1286 Eyeglasses invented--Pisa, Italy. 1291 End of Crusades 1297 William Wallace (1270-1305) routs English forces at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. 1299 Osman I becomes the first Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.Category:Period Category:Gothic